Introduction and aim of the projectThis research project aims, first, to analyze new attempts in multinational enterprises (MNE) to manage sustainability in their global value and supply chains (e.g. Beske- Janssen et al 2015; Fleming et al 2013; Spence & Rinaldi 2014, Passetti et al 2014). If follows the transformation in our case company – the world leading clothing company H&M – of the way sustainability is governed and controlled, from compliance, a model dependent on external regulation and auditing at arm’s length, towards partnership, a model where embeddedness, trust and commitment are essential ingredients. The project secondly aims to increase our understanding of performance measurements of sustainability (Beske-Janssen et al 2015), the evaluative infrastructure and organizational arrangement that are needed to achieve sustainability in highly complex and dispersed global supply chains.